Familiar face on ABC News 24

By Jeannette McMahon (online producer )

ABC News 24 is being launched on Thursday night, and Hunter viewers trying out the new round-the-clock news channel might recognise a familiar face. Scott Bevan is originally from Newcastle and has worked in local newspapers and television, as well as presenting programs on 1233.

ABC News 24 will deliver continuous and commercial-free coverage of major breaking stories in Australia and around the world.

It will take advantage of the ABC's existing news operation, including more than 800 journalistst in 60 locations throughout Australia, as well as a dozen international bureaus around the world.

Broadcasting around the clock will enable the ABC to increase its in-depth coverage of local, national and international affairs through background features and analysis.

New programs have been developed specifically for the channel, focusing on world news, national politics and business, and many of the ABC's existing television news and current affairs programs will also be featured.

At the heart of the new channel is a continous news centre, with a new state-of-the-art studio operating out of the foyer of the ABC's Ultimo headquarters in Sydney.

ABC News 24 is a free service, available to anyone with a high-definition digital television or set-top box.

It will be available on channel 24 on free-to-air television, channel 24 on Austar and channel 202 on Foxtel.

If your digital receiver is not picking up channel 24, you may need to reset your digital tv or set-top box, and then do a channel rescan.